


Safe Haven

by grelleswife



Series: Dadbastian Week 2019 [1]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dadbastian Week 2019, Demon Ciel Phantomhive, Druitt finally gets his comeuppance, Found Family, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Platonic Relationships, the violence tag mainly applies to the beginning because Sebastian absolutely annihilates Druitt, there's some Sebagni in the background
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 03:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21469627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grelleswife/pseuds/grelleswife
Summary: Down and out after his mistress dies before he can complete his contract, the starving young imp "Ciel" aimlessly roams the streets of London. Even fiends can experience the blessings of Providence, however, and Ciel's fortunes take a turn for the better when a powerful demon named Sebastian gives him a place to call home.
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis & Ciel Phantomhive
Series: Dadbastian Week 2019 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547587
Comments: 7
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue: Some Exposition

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Dadbastian Week 2019.
> 
> Demon!Ciel is such a cutie that I had to dedicate at least one work to him. I hope you enjoy!

Before diving into the first chapter, I thought it would be wise to provide some context for this AU.

The Safe Haven verse is a Victorian AU in which magic and supernatural creatures are interwoven into everyday life. It was initially inspired by the movie trailer for _Weathering with You_, in which one of the protagonists has the ability to manipulate the weather. This sparked the idea for a Sebagni AU in which Agni was a mage who could calm inclement weather, while Sebastian was a demon who could cause violent storms and other natural disasters.

**Sebastian’s backstory:** On one side of their family, the demon is related to the Calamities. Among hell’s most powerful demons, Calamities have various unique abilities, including the right to instantly cast the souls of the guilty into hell without reapers’ judgement and storm-raising (Bassy is particularly adept at the latter). However, Sebastian’s other parent was an incubus. In this AU, incubi and succubi are looked down upon because they are relatively weak, only above imps in terms of strength. Moreover, they derive sustenance from sexual activity with humans and actually enjoy it (since demons regard mortals in the way that we view livestock, the thought of taking pleasure in intimate acts with one is repugnant to most of them). Sebastian’s Calamity lineage gives them the right to the title “Princess,” though I’m still headcanoning Sebas as genderfluid. In the demons’ language (Gehenna), “princess” isn’t a gendered term but merely denotes high rank. Sebastian was often mistreated and ostracized due to his incubus heritage, but the demon learned to fend for himself and acquired great competence in magic. One fateful day, however, Sebastian returned to Hell following a successful contract with a pet cat in tow. Some of the demon’s enemies at court killed the cat out of spite, prompting Sebastian to attack them in a blind rage. Unfortunately for Bassy, these demons were their superiors, and Sebas’s “insubordination” was grounds for their permanent banishment from Hell. As such, Sebastian has to go out soul-hunting regularly to ensure that he has enough energy to survive being separated from his natural environment. Understandably, the demon had a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

Eventually, Sebastian meets Agni, and the two of them fall in love and become “partners in sorcery” (similar to Mo Dao Zu Shi’s concept of cultivation partners). After a series of misadventures, some of which involve conflicts with an unpredictable and dangerous weather manipulator known as the Undertaker, they settle down and get married. Mages have lifespans that are centuries long, so Agni’s mortality isn’t as much of an issue. Safe Haven begins a few years after these events.

Without further ado, let’s get on with the fic!


	2. Chapter 1: The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isolated and alone, Ciel is accosted by a strange, sinister human who aims to steal him away. Will his desperate call for help be heard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for blood and gore later in the chapter. I needed the catharsis of Druitt's karma catching up with him, so I hope you'll bear with me!

The moon’s face was veiled in shadow, and the dim, cold light of the stars shone down pitilessly on the frail child who haltingly made his way in the darkness. The imp staggered through the alleys and backways of London, so faint with hunger that he was on the verge of collapse. His magic faltered, causing his little horns and pointed tail to show, and his once-fine livery was stained and tattered.

“I want to go home,” he sniffled, leaning against the brick wall of a dilapidated, abandoned building to catch his breath. That wasn’t an option, though. Not with his elderly mistress dead and in her grave before he’d been able to fulfill their contract. The seal engraved on his left eye would remain there forever, a mark of failure that barred him from returning to hell. He was trapped on Earth. _He’d never see his sib again_.

His lower lip quivered as he tried desperately not to cry. Ciel (the name given to the imp by his former mistress) knew that he couldn’t waste time on tears. Manifesting in the human world sapped a demon’s strength, which meant that he’d need to feed more often. But he’d never had to hunt for souls before. His twin had managed to gather enough morsels for them both, claiming that ‘Ciel’ was too fragile to run around on the mortal sphere. ‘We’ll always be together, so you can count on me to protect you!’ his sib would assure him.

His twin hadn’t known that he might summoned to form a contract with a desperate human. Well, technically, Queen Victoria hadn’t meant to summon the imp. She’d gotten his true name confused with that of a more powerful demon and was bitterly disappointed by the pint-sized child who appeared in the summoning circle. Still, she’d demanded that the imp fulfill her wish: Bring her beloved husband back from the dead. Ciel had agreed. He’d never heard of a demon doing such a thing, but surely it was possible. And with the woman’s manservants, an intimidating pair of mages, looming over him, he hadn’t exactly had much choice in the matter. He’d tried and tried, but every method the imp attempted ended in humiliating failure. A brokenhearted Victoria had simply died in her sleep one night. After roughing him up a bit out of spite (they both despised Ciel’s fragility and incompetence), Mage Phipps and Mage Grey had thrown him out of the royal palace to fend for himself. Ever since, Ciel had been searching for a soul to devour, but his prospects looked increasingly bleak. Besides, he felt so light-headed that he could barely think straight, much less overpower and kill a human…

An unpleasant tingle raced across his skin, signaling that malicious eyes were upon him. Ciel turned his head and stiffened when he saw a human nonchalantly drifting in his direction. A little too nonchalantly. His handsome face wore a vulpine smile, and his golden locks were long and flowing. Mortals were probably duped by that beautiful exterior, but Ciel sensed the rottenness that lurked beneath. The man’s soul was choked by a miasma of spiritual pollution. Normally, mortal’s sins were mouthwatering, but this stranger’s energy disgusted the imp. He’d never encountered such an unappetizing soul before, though he couldn’t for the life of him say what made it so repugnant. Instinctively, Ciel began backing away. Whatever atrocious acts he may have committed, this human was trouble. To make matters worse, the imp thought he could detect the auras of several magical objects on the man’s person. Ciel didn’t know much about spells. His sib had learned enough magic to protect them both, so there was no need for him to (or so his sib had told him). But weren’t at least a few of the magical objects related to binding spells?

Binding. _Traps_. This was bad.

“Hello, little robin,” the man crooned, coming closer.

_I’ve got to run_, Ciel thought, but his legs refused to move. He was held in place by the pair of purple eyes that bored into his like a snake hypnotizing a wounded bird. Ciel felt strangely woozy, and what little strength the imp had left began to drain away. It was being siphoned into one of the man’s charms! Fear made his eyes turn their true red, the pupils narrowing to slits.

“S-stay away from me!” Ciel whimpered pitifully.

“Now, that isn’t very nice,” the stranger smirked, reaching out to grab one of his wrists in a grip of iron.

“Stop it! You’re hurting me!” the imp protested as he grew still weaker.

“Why so scared, little robin?” the man crooned. “There’s _nothing_ to be afraid of. I just want to introduce you to a few friends to mine…though I might have a taste of you myself before then…”

Ciel wasn’t sure what he meant, but it couldn’t be anything good. His vision grew blurry. Terror constricted his chest. If he continued losing magic at this rate, he’d pass out, and who knew what might happen to him then.

Summoning the last of his strength, Ciel screamed, a desperate cry that resounded on both the physical and spiritual planes.

“Someone, anyone! I don’t care who! PLEASE HELP ME!”

The air around them rippled like water troubled by a fallen stone, disrupted by the arrival of a presence that permeated their surroundings with an inky _blackness _so deep that Ciel thought he had gone blind. Something wrapped around Ciel’s waist and dragged him out of the man’s reach, while his assailant was hoisted aloft, wriggling helplessly within a mass dark, writhing tentacles. Ciel gasped. This aura…the creature had to be another demon!

The fiend growled menacingly, and the shadowy mass suddenly teemed with hundreds of glaring red eyes. A harsh, raspy voice snarled, “**_You shall not touch this child_**.”

The man opened his mouth to call for help, but a tendril wrapped itself around his face, gagging him. “Hush, now, or you’ll wake the neighbors,” the demon purred, voice dropping to a honeyed whisper that was nonetheless laden with menace. Several pairs of the red eyes turned to look at Ciel, and a mouth filled with rows of serrated fangs began to speak.

“I’m about to count to ten, child. While I do so, would you mind closing your eyes?”

“B-but why?” Ciel squeaked.

“There are certain things that younglings should not see, even the spawn of imps. Now, please, close them.”

The demon’s voice was not unkind, but their words rang with authority. Timidly, Ciel nodded, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Very well. I think it’s time you received a thorough lesson in what happens to those who prey upon the weak, Viscount Druitt.”

* * *

Sebastian had been minding his own business, strolling through the city in search of cats. Although he and Agni already had eight, there was ample room in the demon’s heart for more, and few things brought him greater joy than giving shelter to a hungry stray. The distress call had taken him by surprise.

“Someone, anyone! I don’t care who! PLEASE HELP ME!”

Based on their essence, the person who uttered that cry was probably an imp, and quite a young one, to boot. It was highly unusual for a demon _child_ to ascend to the mortal realm. Humans could be simpletons, but even they generally weren’t foolish enough to contract with an inexperienced youngling. What the devil was going here?

Well, there would be time for questions later. Sebastian might be an exile whose lineage was tainted with connections to the lowly incubi, but the demon was still royalty, and a Princess of Calamity had obligations to the denizens of hell. Shifting to his true form, he raced to the scene, quickly assessing the situation. A slight figure with horns and tail was in the clutches of a tall, slender human. Sebastian couldn’t recollect encountering the little imp, but he was all too familiar with the man. Viscount Druitt was notorious among mages and nobility alike for his alleged connections to the venial underground markets that specialized in abducting children (both mortal and supernatural) for use in profane magical rituals or to satisfy the depraved appetites of the wealthy. Though occasionally prosecuted for his activities in these markets, often in the face of overwhelming evidence, Druitt inevitably emerged scot-free. The ease with which human riches and status absolved one’s crimes disgusted Sebastian. If it wasn’t for his husband, the demon would have long ago given up faith in these corrupt mortals. Souls who exploited children for the purposes of their carnal desires had a very distinctive flavor, and Druitt’s was saturated with it. The man was also laden with dark charms specially designed to weaken magical creatures and render them unconscious. As if this starving little imp could have resisted to begin with! Hardly a fair fight. Sebastian’s teeth ground together in contempt, and he made haste to separate the imp from Druitt. Sebastian did not abide by human codes of ethics, but the existence of such loathsome souls offended his aesthetic sensibilities. And something about this pitiful waif who cowered like a frightened kitten in his grasp aroused a ferocious protectiveness in the calamity. 

“_Unus_,” he intoned as his tendrils brutally crushed the hand with which Druitt had grabbed the imp, reducing it to a pulp of bloody meat and pulverized shards of bone.

“MMMMMM!!!”

“Silence, worm. _Duo_.” The man’s left leg was the next to go, snapped above the knee before being twisted like a corkscrew. Tears of anguish poured from Druitt’s eyes, and his strangled screams redoubled.

“_Tres_.” Sebastian’s essence reached into the man’s mouth and unceremoniously ripped out his tongue before tossing it onto the cobblestones like rubbish. That would shut up this foppish peacock.

“_Quattuor_.” On to the right leg. Sebastian got a bit more creative with this one, fracturing it in various and sundry places before ripping it off and rending the flesh to pieces before Druitt’s horrified eyes.

“_Quinque_.” After a moment’s thought, the demon’s jaws went to work on his right arm until only bone with dripping bits of fascia remained. _How does it feel, you who stripped children of their dignity and innocence, to be picked clean?_

“_Sex_.” Claws ripped at his finery and sliced a gash from chest to navel, indecorously raking through the viscount’s innards until they spilled out in a dripping mess.

“_Septem_.” Sebastian gouged out those sly eyes with shameless glee. Dear Agni would probably be upset by this spectacle, but the demon loved a good bloodbath now and then.

“_Octo_.” Tentacles wound about the man’s chest, crushing his ribs as if they were the fragile bars of a birdcage.

“_Novem_.” A twist, a snap, and the man’s neck broke, his head lolling grotesquely. Sebastian casually sheared it from his body before dropping it in disdain. Druitt wouldn’t be needing it any more.

“_Decem_.” Sebastian cruelly tore into Druitt’s chest, ripping out his heart and squeezing it until it burst in a shower of hot, sticky gore that rained down below. The rest of the body was soon disposed of, torn to smaller and smaller pieces until nothing remained of Aleistor Chamber but bloody smears and silken threads. Sebastian could sense the fear from the humans in nearby residences, but he knew that no one would dare challenge him. After certain services that he and Agni had rendered the city, the queen and the lord mayor had given the demon permission to do as he pleased amongst the criminal populace of London. Interestingly enough, that decision had led to a dramatic reduction in murder, thievery, and the like in recent years. Besides, those who knew his true nature thought ill of Druitt, and few would mourn his loss.

Sebastian seized the craven soul that hovered over the site of his demise. “No need for a reaper here. With my authority as a Princess of Calamity, I cast you into the ninth circle.” There were certain innate powers that the Infernal Court could not take from him, including the ability to banish wicked souls to Hades. With a last wail, Viscount Druitt vanished, descending to the eternal torment that awaited him.

“The trash has been dealt with,” Sebastian declared smugly before turning to the tiny imp he held. Sebastian rapidly assumed his human guise—a tall, raven-haired man clad in a dark, well-tailored suit and high-heeled boots. The demon knelt so that he and the imp were on the same level. He really was astonishingly like a kitten. Sebastian had never seen such an adorable youngling, and the protective instinct from earlier compelled him to lay a gentle hand on the child’s shoulder. “You may open your eyes now. Everything will be all right.”

As the imp opened his eyes to gaze at Sebastian in awe, the demon gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“How may I address you?”

“Ciel,” the imp answered shyly, scuffing his shoes against the cobblestones. “That’s the name my mistress gave me.”

So he was under contract, then, though the purple seal on his left eye was clear enough testament to that fact.

“Good answer. I’m glad you know better than to give out your true name.” The youngling bit his lower lip, though the older demon could tell he was quite pleased at the praise.

“Well then, Ciel, you may call me Sebastian. Sebastian Michaelis. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”


End file.
